Artists

At the firstdraft Gallery in Surry Hills, the unique creations of NH and "Chill" PS adorned a room. There was "Friendship Island", a utopia described by a large map, plus head sketches and whimsical bios of the inhabitants (who I gather all have some basis in reality). And then there was "The Budchen", a replica of a type of heavily decorated German kiosk selling booze, smokes, confectionery, nick-nacks and such...very similar to the budchen PS operated on the sly in his Hamburg lounge room, and which did a roaring trade! It was rare fun to hang with this cool dude and dudette, quaff cheap Beck's and hear the unpretentious stories behind their art.


The next 556 pages: "New England White" (2007) by Stephen L. Carter. Murder in a university town is ho-hum, but the affluent African-American perspective of this novel piqued my interest.

Stay of execution: "Album Of The Year" (1997) - Faith No More. I've never cared for this disc and would likely have offloaded it had the guys at poker not convinced me to give it a fresh listen.

"M:TG" Worlds, Day Two wrap: Highest-placed Aussie - 8th; team ranking - 10th.